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Nuclear energy and radioactive waste

Original report (in Italian - English translation in preparation)
by Cristian Massimi, University of Bologna, Italy

Nowadays talking about nuclear energy is not an easy task. Most of people look at it suspiciously: this technology has been too often and too superficially related to two hystorical events: the nuclear bombing over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the second world war, and the disaster in Cernobyl, together with all their dramatic consequences. Someone can even recall the avoided nuclear war during the period of the cold war. Furthermore, the present international scenario doesn't help: there is a non-proliferation act that no one respects (e.g.: U.S.A. and Israel), and the quarrel between U.S.A. and Iran is turning the uranium enrichment process into a synonimous of nuclear weapon production (of course, they are somehow related but one should keep in mind that the former doesn't necessarly imply the latter...).
Anyway, this is not the end of the story. Another issue is the radioactive waste: there is also a huge lack of information about this topic.
Among the reasons our society provides against the development of nuclear energy, few of them can be really considered relevant. The main issues are not merely technical, but are related to the nature itself of the fission process, i.e: self-sustained chain reaction, production of fission fragments and radioactive actinides, and very long life-time of the fission products and the actinides.
My intention in posting Dr. Massimi's work here is to advertize some relatively new developments in the nuclear technology, which are strongly related to a sustainable development of our world.
Let me summarize some important points, which are explained in more details in Dr. Massimi's report:
* the long life-time radioactive waste (e.g.: minor actinides) can be successfully treated by a technology based on ADS (Accelerator Driven System) and EA (Energy Amplifier): the long-life isotopes are trasmutated into isotopes with short life-time, which decay into a stable element in few seconds. This means that those elements which emit radiation for centuries can be transformed (transmutated) into stable elements, i.e.: elements which are not radioactive;
* as a side result, this technology cannot be used to produce mass-distruction weapons, because the reactors are based on the thorium cycle;
* nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable energies don't produce any greenhouse gases or injurious gases;
* recent scientific studies show that nuclear and eolic energies are the safest energies: they have the lowest impact (i.e.: diseases, accidents) on society with respect to the other energies;
* the transportation of radioactive matter is the safest: there has been a complete absence of accidents with consequences on the environment in several decads.
I strongly encourage to read Dr. Massimi's report in order to get informed about a really important topic.

It is really a pleasure to thank Dr. Cristian Massimi to have allowed me to post here his relevant work.

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Is the avoided "new 9/11" in London made in Hollywood?

Original article (in Italian) from MoviSol

The terrorism alarm on August the 10th, which paralyzed most of European and International flights, was not justified. This is explained by Larry C. Johnson (a former CIA agent) in an article appeared on August the 17th on No Quarter : there he states that no evidence came out that the conspirators had a prototype of the explosive that they were supposed to bring on board of the aircraft.
There are news from Pakistan according to which the suspected terrorists in England got at least one of the components of the explosive, and they didn't have prepared or mixed yet. Johnson goes on saying again that the conspirators didn't have prepared or mixed the supposed explosive. More important, they didn't have an explosive charge to overcome the security controls. It seems that they had hydrogen peroxide. What a difficulty to get it! It is enough to go to a shop and buy it. The hydrogen peroxide is not an explosive, and it cannot be easily and safely used to prepare an explosive. Second, no evidence came out that this group bought flight-tickets and had the visas to board on aircrafts to U.S.A.. How could they blow airplanes up where they couldn't board on? Third, the british police is still hardly looking for evidences they need to keep these guys in jail. If the conspiracy were in a so advanced stage, it should not be a problem to find them. If they had flight-tickets, visas and explosive, then one could say... one could say that the game is over. Thomas C. Greene also commented on the The Register: "Binary liquid explosives are a sexy staple of Hollywood thrillers". In order to mix some TATP (triacetone triperoxide, the explosive that the suspected terrorists were supposed to use) one needs to start from hydrogen peroxide with the right concentration, that is very dangerous to get. "Now for the fun part. Take your hydrogen peroxide, acetone, and sulfuric acid, measure them very carefully, and put them into drinks bottles for convenient smuggling onto a plane. It's all right to mix the peroxide and acetone in one container, so long as it remains cool. Don't forget to bring several frozen gel-packs (preferably in a Styrofoam chiller deceptively marked "perishable foods"), a thermometer, a large beaker, a stirring rod, and a medicine dropper. You're going to need them.
It's best to fly first class and order Champagne. The bucket full of ice water, which the airline ought to supply, might possibly be adequate - especially if you have those cold gel-packs handy to supplement the ice, and the Styrofoam chiller handy for insulation - to get you through the cookery without starting a fire in the lavvie.
Once the plane is over the ocean, very discreetly bring all of your gear into the toilet. You might need to make several trips to avoid drawing attention. Once your kit is in place, put a beaker containing the peroxide/acetone mixture into the ice water bath (Champagne bucket), and start adding the acid, drop by drop, while stirring constantly. Watch the reaction temperature carefully. The mixture will heat, and if it gets too hot, you'll end up with a weak explosive. In fact, if it gets really hot, you'll get a premature explosion possibly sufficient to kill you, but probably no one else.
After a few hours - assuming, by some miracle, that the fumes haven't overcome you or alerted passengers or the flight crew to your activities - you'll have a quantity of TATP with which to carry out your mission. Now all you need to do is dry it for an hour or two.
Just in time operation?: About this, the newsletter EIR Strategic Alert commented that on August the 10th, the British autorities announced to have captured 24 people who were suspected to have planned the blowing-up of several airplanes to U.S.A... While the existence of one or more terrorist cells seems to be true, the operation which stopped the conspiracy shows some anomalies, e.g. the moment when the captures were decided and the related massmedial noise. The investigation on the british-pakistani cell began more than one year ago, that is since July 7th 2005 when some bombs blew the metropolitan up in London. This investigation was a topic of more than one discussion between Blair and Bush. The two leaders kept staying in vacation even if, according to unconfirmed indian press reports, on August the 6th the British police discovered a general practise of the attack on board of a flight to Boston. If this were true, it's not easy to understand why the captures were only four days later. There is the fact that the political and economical scene were more adapt four days later because on August the 8th Bush administration lost its main supporter among the Democratics, Joe Lieberman, whose electoral defeat was defined by Cheney as an Al Qaeda strengthment.
Tony Blair also has to face the opposition inside his party, and more than 100 labourist parliamentars asked for an extra gathering of the parliament to discuss the government politics in the Middle-East. There is a stronger and stronger rumor according to which an "anti-Blair" blow, organized by his antagonist Gordon Brown, might happen. Moreover, on the financial side it has been proved that the bunches of terroristic news give the "Security Team" the chance to put cash into the market. In conclusion, there are several elements leading to think of what happened as a "just in time" anti-terroristic operation. discovered a general practise of the attack on board of a flight to Boston. If this were true, it's not easy to understand why the captures were only four days later. There is the fact that the political and economical scene were more adapt four days later because on August the 8th Bush administration lost its main supporter among the Democratics, Joe Lieberman, whose electoral defeat was defined by Cheney as an Al Qaeda strengthment.
Tony Blair also has to face the opposition inside his party, and more than 100 labourist parliamentars asked for an extra gathering of the parliament to discuss the government politics in the Middle-East. There is a stronger and stronger rumor according to which an "anti-Blair" blow, organized by his antagonist Gordon Brown, might happen. Moreover, on the financial side it has been proved that the bunches of terroristic news give the "Security Team" the chance to put cash into the market. In conclusion, there are several elements leading to think of what happened as a "just in time" anti-terroristic operation.

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